Black OP
by Fear The Pika
Summary: Tired of running from the law, Lance decides to face his pursuer in one decisive battle in the sky.    *Note: Has nothing to do with Call of Duty, the title is a coincidence*


**Black OP**

"Flamethrower, Salamence."

The giant Dragon unleashed a torrent of flame from it jaws, incinerating the bushes that his master was pointing to. He held the attack until he was bid to stop, then stood waiting patiently for the next order. But his trainer, a caped man with long, red hair, jelled to stick almost straight up, turned around in circles, scowling at the trees around him.

"I know who you are. I know that you're here, and I know why you're here, and I'll offer you a deal: one battle, three on three, no rules, no restrictions. If you beat me, I'll come with you. If I beat you, you have to give me five weeks' head-start. I'll even drop the three Pokéball that I won't use."

With a casual flick of his wrist, the man made half of his Pokéballs fall to the ground, where they bounced once and then stayed still. But before they even hit the ground, a person dressed entirely in black body-amour, complete with a helmet, from the trees.

"So, Lance, you know that I'm an agent from the Pokémon League, here to arrest you. Agent Black, just so you know who finally is going to take you down. I accept your offer; we start now."

With that, the agent dropped four Pokéballs, a massive, battle-scarred Charizard emerging from one of them. Both Lance and Black jumped onto their Pokémon and took to the sky, leaving the forest far below them. The trainers and their Pokémon started circling each other, waiting for the first move.

"Well, I might as well make this quick. Dragon Claw, Salamence!"

"Wait for him to get closer, then use Air Slash."

The Salamence slowly started closing the gap between him and his target. Then darting forward, claws ablaze with orange light, it raked its claws into the Charizard's unprotected belly, creating deep, bleeding furrows in the soft flesh. Charizard roared in pain, but fought the dragon off with a furious volley of Slashes. As Salamence started retreating, Charizard lifted a claw and brought it down horizontally, sending a fast, thin shockwave after the retreating figure, watching it draw blood from the Dragon's tail when it hit. Then the two started circling again, now wary of the other.

"Your Charizard is losing blood fast, and Air Slash is a close-range attack." Lance noted, a scornful tone in his voice. "Are you really going to take on a Salamence when your Pokémon already has a wound like that?"

But Black only gave a mocking bow as he asked, "Shall we dance?"

Without hesitation, both trainers ordered their Pokémon to use Dragon Dance. In response, Charizard and Salamence raced towards each other, leaving crimson trails in the sky behind them. After only the slightest of pauses when the reached each other, the Pokémon started tightly circling around the other, pulling into a tight corkscrew while they rose upwards, wings concussing the air around them. Black was so close to Lance that he could jump on him and arrest him now if he wanted, and Lance knew that. But they both knew that the other would stick to their word.

"Slash!"

"Dragon Claw."

Both Pokémon obeyed the order their trainers had given. The started opening large gashes in the other as the they sped up, making a large trail of blood the spiraled down to the earth, painting the trees and the ground a bright red.

"Enough of this foolishness, Salamence, Draco Meteor!"

"Charizard, get us away from it!"

Almost leaving a sonic boom, Charizard flew at his heightened speed, trying to get far away from his opponent, nearly throwing Black off. But the agent hung on, even though distance proved to be their downfall. Glowing meteors started raining from the sky, rending the clouds in two. The only safe places available were right next to Lance or farther away, but neither could be reached. Charizard, weakened from the blood he had lost, could not dodge the shower of burning rock, brief as it was. He was hit on his leg with a loud crack, indicating that the bone had broken, if not shattered, and spun around, nearly dislodging his trainer again. With one last gasp, Charizard lost consciousness, the flame on his tail struggling not to be extinguished

Black fell with his Charizard, groping around on his belt, trying to find the Pokéball that held his savior. He found one and slowly dragged it up to his face. Gyarados. No, wrong Pokéball! But as he passed through the final layer of cloud, Black saw a lake below him with dark, murky green water. Would he release Gyarados and make a safe landing in the water, leaving his Charizard to die, or would he risk the possibility of death himself and save his partner. The choice was obvious, at least to the agent. He called out his Gyarados, grabbing onto the end of the gigantic water-snake's tail just before the lake engulfed all three of them. Black was not worried, the amour he was wearing was waterproof and had fifteen minutes of oxygen. Not a tear fell from his eye as he turned away from the body of his longtime partner; it just sank into the dark depths of the lake forever. In the end, the Pokémon had been just a tool.

Signaling for Gyarados to get ready to use a Stone Edge, Black turned and stared through the surface of the lake. Lance was just arriving, his Salamence weakened from the lost blood. The submerged agent nodded the command for the move just as the first drops of blood hit the water, making tiny red clouds in the listless waters. Gyarados picked up a boulder in her mouth, solid and covered in algae from sitting on the bottom of the lake for years. Moving surprisingly fast for a Pokémon so big, Gyarados stuck her head out of the water and threw the boulder, nailing the Salamence square in the chest, causing it to completely cave in. This was no normal battle; it was a fight to the death.

Lance, stunned by the impact, fell into the lake feet first. But the shock of the cold water revived him, and he pulled out his second Pokémon. A Dragonite, bigger than the Salamence had been, came out in a flash of white light. Lance grabbed onto his Dragonite's back, gesturing for it to get in the air while Black did the same with Gyarados. The Gyarados reached the surface first, exploding out of the water in a giant arc, sending droplets flying everywhere; miniature glittering diamonds in the sun.

"Bounce."

The Dragonite shot out of the water, Lance clinging to his back, as Gyarados coiled up like a spring. She flipped in mid-air, facing upwards as she landed on the sand at the edge of the water. Allowing gravity to tighten the coil, the Gyarados waited a few seconds and aimed at her target. Then, when the Gyarados could no longer bear any more force, she launched herself over a shocked Lance.

"Ice Fang."

"Thunderbolt, Dragonite!"

Dragonite's antennae began to crackle, electricity running their length, as Gyarados's fangs started to radiate cold, becoming covered in ice. Black jumped off, landing in the lake again, just as the two Pokémon collided. Gyarados was lit up, a gigantic beacon in the sky, just as her fangs cut through the Dragonite's wings, also nearly severing Lance's arm. The two Pokémon refused to give in, neither wanting to lose before the other was finished. Black watched calmly from the shore as, finally, his Gyarados expired with the Dragonite, leaving Lance to pull free from the loosened jaws as the corpses sank. He knew that he was lucky the Ice Fang had frozen his arm, stopping blood flow, but he would have to get it treated soon. Dragging himself out of the lake at Black's feet, Lance looked into the reflective orange visor the hid the agent's face. 

"So, are you going to tell me the truth, or are you going to continue your little charade until one of us dies?" he asked. "You aren't an agent from the Pokémon League, sent to arrest me. You're a bounty hunter who's been following me for the last five years. If there's one thing that I can't stand, it's a bounty hunter who has no respect for his Pokémon."

Spitting in disgust, Lance sent out his final Pokémon: a Latios.

"You're still wrong about me, Lance. I've been following you ever since you killed my family; it's been longer than five years. I came here to kill you, not claim the money put on your head. I abandoned my old name and took up a new one, one that fit who I have become. I use Pokémon for what they are: tools for killing. It doesn't concern me if they die doing their job." Black replied, calling out his third Pokémon: a Latias. "Now shut up and battle."

Jumping onto the Latias, Black took back to the sky, ignoring the stream of glittering tears that was coming from the red Dragon's eyes. Lance did the same, although he noticed the tears that were on the brink of emerging from his own Pokémon's eyes.

"Dragon Pulse!" came the simultaneous cry.

With great reluctance, both Dragons formed a jagged indigo sphere between their paws, watching the golden core radiate angry streaks of light before they sent it on its way. The two attacks collided halfway between the Pokémon and exploded, throwing out walls of pure power that pushed against each other in every direction. It was an even match.

"Did it occur to you that we're making brother and sister fight each other?" Lance called out.

"Did it occur to you that I don't care? Latias, Mist Ball!"

"Ready a Dragon Pulse and release it just before they go over us."

But there was no time; Latias was already too close. Releasing a myriad tiny transparent feathers just above her opponents' heads, Latias flew right on past, easily dodging the half-formed Dragon Pulse as it fizzled out. Black looked back, unable to tell if the Mist Ball had done as he wanted and lowered the Latios's attacking power, just in time to see a second Dragon Pulse explode on Latias's back, just below where he was sitting. Unable to keep in the air after the hit, Latias fell from the sky like the four other Pokémon that had before her. She recovered slightly before crashing into the ground, but only enough to keep the fall from being fatal. Lance landed in front of Black, just as the defeated trainer was pulling himself off of the ground. With a swift, savage kick, Lance removed Black's helmet, revealing a head of long, blond hair and an obviously feminine face.

"I suppose that I shouldn't hit a girl, if you are one, but you do deserve it. Your Pokémon nearly severed my arm. Latios, kill Black."

_No._

Lance blinked in surprise. Psychic or not, many Pokémon had no means of communicating with humans. Why had Latios only spoken to him now? And why was it disobeying orders?

"I'm your trainer, Latios, you will obey me! Kill her!" he screamed, picking up a rock to throw at the Dragon.

_No, but you will die._

Lance briefly saw the Dragon Pulse form before it hit him in the chest, then there was nothing. Black stared up at the blue Dragon, mouth opening and closing like a fish, but not making sound.

_I am leaving, and so is my mate. If you follow us, we will kill you. If you ever try to capture one of us again, we will kill you. Speak of this to anyone and we will kill you. Understood?_

Black nodded dumbly, unable to speak. She watched as Latios helped Latias up, then flew away forever, leaving her alone with the cooling body of Lance and the ruin that she had brought on herself.


End file.
